TIFF is a charitable cultural organization with a mission to transform the way ... USA, Japan95 minuted, Japanese North American Premiere ... And in Oh Lucy!, the debut feature film by Atsuko Hirayanagi — introduced in . "Oh Lucy!" is the debut feature film from Atsuko Hirayanagi, which has been screened at the Cannes and Toronto International film festivals. It follows Setsuko, a woman whose tired with the simplicty of her life, who adapts an American alter ego 'Lucy" and follows her English teacher after he leaves town without notice.

By Elena Lazichttps://twitter.com/elazicWhile the exotic appeal of foreign titles to Western viewers is undeniable (especially at major film festivals), few movies ever reverse that dynamic. In Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy!, Josh Hartnett doesn’t play one of his usual roles (or at least the roles he used to get in big Hollywood movies), where his attractiveness is a bonus for viewers and never commented on by the film. On the contrary, this time out, he is completely objectified and othered as an exotic in an Asian setting.

In truth, Hirayanagi’s directorial debut does not focus on its American star, but rather on Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima), a middle-aged woman working a tedious office job (and thus a slightly unconventional movie heroine). While attending English classes after work, Setsuko suddenly finds herself desperately attracted to John (Hartnett), the enthusiastic and outgoing American instructor. Offering his student the Anglicized name Lucy and a blonde wig for the purposes of the class, he does not realize that he is also giving her what she considers a new identity, and a new lease on life. When John suddenly goes back to California with his young Japanese wife, Setsuko fully embraces her American, individualistic, sexually liberated alter ego and follows him to America, obeying her finally unleashed desire and ignoring its potential consequences.

Hirayanagi excels at finding the dark humour in Setsuko’s existential despair while making us sympathize with her temporary madness. By the end of the film, all illusions of an exotic Other are shattered: the wigs come off and dignity gets damaged. But happily, amidst this chaos, it also seems that Setsuko might find some truth.

Comedy DramaA lonely Japanese woman seizes upon an unlikely chance for love with her English teacher and follows him to LA.

There is a lonely desperation that imbibes the story of "Oh Lucy!" as it has us lurching from one scene to the next, almost inevitable, situation. There are glimpses of hope too, as the protagonist of this quirky tragicomedy decides to abandon her everyday corporate life to follow her dreams. It's interesting to contrast Japanese and American culture with close-ups of how odd a person can look when viewed through the expectations and mores of the other. Oh Setsuko!Anne Murphy

Oh Lucy!This delightful little movie by Hirayanagi Astuko premiered at Cannes's Critics Week and tells the story of a middle-aged Japanese office worker (Terajima Shinobu) who follows a lark to chase her dashing English teacher (Josh Hartnett) to America.